Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 23
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TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY is paid for the best communication received, and one ?fanny a line of ten words for anything else published, with an allowance for photographs.
Workshop tips and smart repairs; long and successful runs; interesting photographs; all are suitable subjects. We will knock your letters into shape and will prepare sketches, where necessary,beforebublication. The absence of a sketch does not disqualify for a prize. When writing, use one side of the Paper only and mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides. Neither your own nor your employer's name will be disclosed. Poyment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, 7-15, Rosebery
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Annual Bonuses are given to the most successful contributors.
Driver
)XaMKUMWSW,Saff.'"
and Traveller.
The sender of the following communication has awarded the 10s. prize this week.
[1.236] " H.J." (Pimlico) writes :—" From time to time you have made mention of positions in which a man is required to combine the duties of commercial traveller and driver of a petrol motorvan. Some 41 years ago I was offered a berth with a London wholesale tea firm. My duties consisted in handling the van, delivering goods, booking orders, canvassing, and appointing agents. Before taking this position. I had worked either at the bench or at driving, so that I was quite inexperienced in this new job. "The first work that I bad, consisted of taking three 15 cwt. vans up to Birmingham. After herding them and their respective drivers safely into the town,
been
I was sent out the following week with a van loaded up with packets of tea, coffee, and cocoa. I was told to appoint agents and to sell the goods, and afterwards to make fortnightly calls on the shops at which. I had introduced myself. I started in Staffordshire, and then covered Derbyshire and the Peak district. The following week I took the whole of Shropshire, and from there went to Montgomeryshire, and so to the Welsh coast. I may say that I did quite a satisfactory amount of business. I held this position for 2if years, and broke new ground in practically every district where business could be done. Afterwards I was sent round to Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and. Warw ickshire.
" I have now relinquished the job, but should go back to it again should occasion offer. I enclose a composite photograph showing a number of vehicles which I have driven from time to time, and also my licence, which was granted in 1908."
Some Notes on Valve Springs.
[1237] " H.M.M." (West Bromwich) writes :—" I have noticed recently that several letters have appeared on the '1). anfl M.' pages, which have dealt with the main springs of motor vehicles. Hardly sufficient attention has been given, however, atleast in my opinion, to the important subject of valve springs.
" In particular, I would instance automatic inlet valves. The importance of having these springs of equal strength cannot be over-estimated. Should they be of unequal strength, it not only throws the engine out of balance, but reduces its efficiency. One of the best ways to test automatic inlet valves is to take two of them out of their seatings, and then, hOlding one in each hand, to press them together. If both valves commence opening at the same time, the springs are of approximately equal strength.
"If one should open before the other, however, it is proof that it is the weaker of the two. In this case,. the best thing to do is to replace the spring, but Ott occasion such a procedure is impossible or incon
venient. It is advisable in this case to treat the weaker spring in the following way: half a coil should be clipped off one end, and the spring pulled out until it possesses equal strength to that of its companion. If on replacement it is still found to be the weaker, a further piece must be removed, from the end. "This method is only serviceable where the spring has not been permanently 'set' by the heat of the gases. If this be the case, resiliency and life can only be recovered by re-heating the metal to a blood-red heat, and then quenching it in whale oil. Before this is done, the spring should be pulled out to something like 25 per cent. more than its normal length. After hardening, the spring should be tempered by inserting it into lead which is just at the melting point. Bluegrey is the best temper colour for a valve spring."